San Diego, CA Family Law Blog

June 30, 2014, is the deadline to file and SERVE a Petition for Dissolution if you want to obtain a divorce in 2014. The reason is that the Petitioner must wait six months after service of the Petition before obtaining a Judgment stating that the parties are no longer married and are returned to the status of single persons. This means that if you file and serve the papers by June 30, the marital status can end on December 30 or 31. If you serve the papers on July 1, the marital status does not end until January 1 or later. The marital status is important for many reasons, including the ability to file a joint return and to maintain the spouse on a health insurance plan.